The Las Vegas Raiders appear to have a crowded unit at cornerback this offseason. As training camp nears, could the team actually acquire draft capital in exchange for the highly touted Nevin Lawson?
When talking about the possibility of trading away Lawson, some of my colleagues laughed at the idea. Their responses were, “Trade him for what? A bag of Lays?” As you can see, there’s not much value placed on Lawson’s exploits. Can you blame them? Lawson surrendered five touchdowns in pass coverage last season. Clearly opposing offenses didn’t think much of Lawson either. He was targeted a total of 67 times in 2020, up from 26 the previous year.
If anyone can pull it off, it’s the Raiders
Regardless, the fact remains, if there’s one coach and general manager duo that could finesse a team, it’s Jon Gruden and Mike Mayock. We all know how much this organization values its draft picks so a late-round pick in exchange for Lawson would be optimal.
We know the team has Trayvon Mullen at the top, that much is undeniable. However, the rest of the depth chart is tricky for the Silver and Black this year. The team likely has hope that Damon Arnette will develop into their CB2 this season. They also brought in Casey Hayward this offseason. Given his experience and pedigree, he’ll be vying for a starting role.
With Nate Hobbs waiting in the wings and the possibility of bringing in another veteran ever-present, Lawson is very expendable. If anyone can make something positive out of all this, it will be Mayock and Gruden. Question is, who in the NFL will be desperate enough to trade for Lawson?
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